social.noyu.me

windows and linux users' reactions to how macos software is shipped in a .dmg disk image are always funny. what, you think it's strange to package files into a filesystem for distribution? what do you think .zip, .tar.gz and .iso files are then? :3

@hikari it's not the "in a filesystem" part of it that bothers me. It's that there's no package management to speak of. It's just..."here's some files".

@hikari with a good package manager, I can query what package provides what file, I can verify all packages in one place (are the files what the package installed or have they been tampered with), I can search for a specific program by name, I can install a package and all dependencies easily. A good package manager is a miracle, and the reason Linux was much better for some purposes (e.g. servers, development) than Windows and Mac OS even before Linux was actually better than Windows or Mac OS.

@hikari package management non-existence is a deal-breaker for me. A good package manager is simply too valuable. Microsoft finally got a native package manager, like, a few weeks ago, though I think it's still somewhat not how the OS itself is installed (unlike Linux where everything is from a package and managed with the same tools). AFAIK, Mac OS still doesn't have package management, though there's Macports, fink, and (shudder) Homebrew to try to bandage over the wound.

@saagar @swelljoe this is true. it's always bothered me that windows and macos software don't have standard ways to be updated (but this is microsoft and apple's fault for not wanting to make that possible without buying into their store projects)